Oracle centralizes smart city nervous system

PORTLAND, Ore. -- IBM has already signed up over 200 cities as part of its initiative defining 2010-to-2020 as the decade of the Smarter Planet, but no longer is it going it alone. Oracle has kicked off its Smart City Platform, too, for which it recently signed up Paradox Engineering SA (Novazzano, Switzerland) to provide wireless sensor networks, smart meters and connectivity in a pilot project in San Francisco, Calif.

Oracle's Smart City Platform aims to "future proof" cities by centralizing control systems with a scalable platform that enabled fast, smart decisions to be quickly implemented as services provided to citizens. Paradox Engineering's part will be to provide bidirectional full-mesh wireless sensor networks that enable the remote monitoring and centralized control of electrical, water and gas distribution systems for the Smart City of the future. The aim is to improve city services to make cities more livable while cutting operational costs, thus boosting the smart city's economy.

Paradox Engineering's wireless sensor networks will provide what Oracle calls a Citywide Nervous System, which collects data in real time, delivers it to centralized dashboards for city controllers who in turn deliver services including streetlights, gas, water and electricity to smart meters. Electric vehicle chargers, traffic controllers, surveillance cameras and other city sensors and actuators that today run on separate systems will all be integrated into the centralized command structure, with Oracles' servers and database providing the storage and computing power to deliver actionable business intelligence to operators in real time.

Oracle's City Platform Solution integrates administration, management and operations by providing a single point of access for citizens, administration and external groups to operations and infrastructure management. SOURCE: Oracle
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The Internet of Things, usually thought of as networks of consumer devices, will collect and distribute public "big data" along the Citywide Nervous System with the aim of making cities greener, faster acting and generally just nicer places to live, according to Oracle and Paradox Engineering.

The first pilot project is being deployed in San Francisco by Oracle and Paradox Engineering where it will provide centralized control of public lighting and other services such as electric vehicle charging stations and traffic signals for the Public Utility Commission there.

Adding a pothole detection feature into GPS mapping programs could also detect and report road problems. The frequency of reports of a given pothole could be used to prioritize repair. The GPS maps display could also upgraded with a symbol for potholes (perhaps a red dash on the road) to warn people new to the area of road hazards.

This sounds similar to what we are doing at Geo-Tel. We are providing government entities and bushiness with detailed GIS maps that have telecommunications detail layered on top of it. This gives them the leverage and insight necessary to make informed location based and fiscally sound decisions as they grow.
http://www.geo-tel.com

This sounds similar to what we are doing at Geo-Tel. We are providing government entities and bushiness with detailed GIS maps that have telecommunications detail layered on top of it. This gives them the leverage and insight necessary to make informed location based and fiscally sound decisions as they grow.